Snap or savour: what’s the best way to enjoy the moment?

Two gorgeous ramp scorchers heat up the debate

Here’s Sheetal Mallar and Lisa Haydon in a face-off of sorts – while the photographer and former model can’t do without grabbing a shot, the Queen actor prefers to live the experience than get her camera clicking.

Sheetal Mallar

Sheetal Mallar. Photo: Fotocorp“I enjoy travelling and exploring new destinations—and a camera is probably as important an item in my bag as a wallet is when I go out shopping. When on a holiday, I have often, in my mind, struggled with both the concepts of going with the flow as well as interrupting it by quickly grabbing my camera and shooting it. And somehow taking a picture at these times felt like I was rationalising something emotional.

“I believe that memories are meant to fade. We don’t usually remember our experiences exactly as they were. In our minds, these moments are intermingled with emotions, which sort of distort reality into a different version of the same story. And I believe that photographing an experience is the closest thing that comes to capturing it accurately. So, at the risk of losing the purity of a moment, I would still prefer to take a picture and be able to revisit it all those years later rather than having no memories at all.”

Lisa Haydon

Lisa Haydon. Photo: KCS/Splash News/Corbis

“The pressure of capturing a moment is one that I always talk myself out of. Why cut that moment short by jumping up to grab the camera, in the process causing it to pass? Our thought pattern is broken and we are immediately transported from experiencing to frantically clicking, just so we can go home and share.

“Our photos may never convey what we were feeling. After all, posing for a photo doesn’t actually capture the moment; it merely tries to save a portion of the feeling you were experiencing in that moment. And how will I be in that photo if I have to take the photo? So we call in someone else to take it. And, then, what do we get? A cluster of smiling heads trying to convey joy. If we have to capture the moment, it is the natural action shots that steal my fancy.

“I’ve purchased an array of cameras—a Canon G12, Fujifilm’s latest Polaroid (in two sizes) and an underwater Olympus with the best intentions. I’ve packed them religiously on trips—only to come home with my camera empty. I’ve realised that the process of capturing and saving is not crucial enough to me. I do occasionally take photos but only when the camera is not too far away and I don’t have to break the flow to capture it.”

Would you prefer to capture a moment or simply experience it? Hit the comments!